Direct-To-Home television in India. Update DTH UHD (4K) now available

This is a discussion on Direct-To-Home television in India. Update DTH UHD (4K) now available within Gadgets, Computers & Software, part of the Shifting gears category; Each time I want to switch to a DTH provider, I go online and read reviews. And each time I ...

Re: Direct-To-Home television in India. Update DTH UHD (4K) now available

Each time I want to switch to a DTH provider, I go online and read reviews. And each time I change my mind and stick to my cable provider only. I figure a known devil is better than an unknown friend.

My cable operator only provides SD channels. These are okay on a 21" TV but on any screen bigger in size the picture pixelates. I have two 42" TVs and one 32" TV at home. On the bright side, the 3 connections cost me only INR 400 per month. On the not-so-bright side, I get some really horrible picture and sound. The solution?

I converted my old laptop into a media centre, and installed a program on it that lets me use my phone as a remote mouse. The laptop connects to the TV via the HDMI port. I also got a WDTV which is like Apple TV but has a lot of free content available.

Ever since this set up, I have truly realized how little of the TV channels I actually watch. I also realized that starsports.com gives me HD broadcast quality of live events while my cable operator who charges me additionally for the channel does not. I realized that with youtube and a few other online streaming services around, one does not really need to watch TV channels anymore. Today, you have the choice to choose the content. You are no more dependent on watching what the TV companies want you to watch.

My take on all this? Very soon DTH or cable or whatever will die. Services such as Netflix will take over, and customer will truly be the king.

Do I still have the cable connection at home? Yes. Parents do like to watch TV the old fashioned way. They are fine with SD broadcast quality. To them, SD or HD is all the same. Would I go for a DTH operator? Perhaps not. Especially since none of the operators truly gives me a choice with regards to what channels I wish to subscribe to. The packages are expensive, and the ala-carte is even more expensive.

Had Reliance Big Tv HD DVR box for last couple of years which went kaput all of a sudden. Contacted Bog Tv for repair or replacement, and they claim they can only replace it with a normal non HD box, and we will need to pay for a HD box (1k) or a HD DVR box (5.9k). Considering that we originally paid 5.9k to upgrade from a normal box to a HD DVR box, this sounded extremely wrong. No amount of breaking our head with their customer care helped, compounded by the miserable fact that we have over a year of subscription balance in our account with Bug Tv.

We have finally paid up some money (negotiated) for a HD box, in lieu of which we have got a further 3 months addition in our subscription of Beg Tv.

Anyone who may be remotely considering Big Tv, may kindly note their such clear monetization policies.

(Note: Typos above are not typos)

While attending for random reboot issue of my Reliance HD STB box, the technician tried a firmware upgrade and the HD STB box went kaput. Now, they are asking me to shell out 2K for a new HD STB box. The call center reps disconnect the call after listening to the issue. I have refused to pay, and have written a mail to their customer care. Lets see.

While attending for random reboot issue of my Reliance HD STB box, the technician tried a firmware upgrade and the HD STB box went kaput. Now, they are asking me to shell out 2K for a new HD STB box. The call center reps disconnect the call after listening to the issue. I have refused to pay, and have written a mail to their customer care. Lets see.

I have given up on Big Tv.

My unit and dish (lnb part) are both dead. We don't use TV nowadays anyway, so just waiting for the subscription to end when they will take it back.

Re: Direct-To-Home television in India. Update DTH UHD (4K) now available

Quote:

Originally Posted by JMaruru

While attending for random reboot issue of my Reliance HD STB box, the technician tried a firmware upgrade and the HD STB box went kaput. Now, they are asking me to shell out 2K for a new HD STB box. The call center reps disconnect the call after listening to the issue. I have refused to pay, and have written a mail to their customer care. Lets see.

If you are ok with missing TV (which I am) Escalate it to higher ups - Put it on Twitter and Facebook Page of theirs. Should help.

Quote:

Originally Posted by diyguy

Try to buy a second hand one from Olx. Ultimately you will miss out on your programs and they will drag this for sometime...

In my opinion it's not worth burning energy on small things and must save it for the more difficult/important issues in life... It's perspective of a 40 year old . Better to get irritants out of the way and unclutter ones mind. It is just a recommendation, op can ignore of course sir!

Re: Direct-To-Home television in India. Update DTH UHD (4K) now available

Update : Instead of apologizing for the fiasco, Tata Sky has the audacity to charge me for box replacement. That too when the original box wasn't faulty and the replacement box is defective right from the start. Now will have to fight to get that reversed. I have made up my mind that the only way to make these companies learn a lesson or two is by ditching them & not giving them your business. In the last 10 years I was lucky to not face any technical difficulties otherwise this would have happened a lot earlier. They are just operating like scammers who are not interested in solving the problem but to replace the box with a refurbished one and charging for it. Legally the box is my property so they can't touch the box without my permission. My trust in Tata brand has shattered so much that I'm contemplating writing to Ratan Tata to tell him the state of affairs after he retired. I have recommended Tata Sky to already 10 people who have bought it, now you can guess what my response will be when someone wants to buy Tata Sky connection. I will myself not touch any Tata product even if it's given for free. Guess our legal system & government is to be blamed because can't even imagine BSkyB doing a similar thing in UK.

Re: Direct-To-Home television in India. Update DTH UHD (4K) now available

You are not alone, this is as a well organized money gagging by Airtel and their customer care will not help anything except to say it will need a paid visit from their engineer. They will impose a firmware upgrade and will ensure it will not complete and will send an engineer to your home. They will take a doctors look on your STB and will obviously conclude that your STB needs replacement. You have to pay Rs. 750 for a exchanged STB between customer 1 and customer 2 who have the same issue. Our country is in still in stone age when it comes for customer rights !!

Re: Direct-To-Home television in India. Update DTH UHD (4K) now available

Sorry for not updating earlier, but I had to fight and complain again to the Nodal Officer and he waived off the charges imposed for replacing the box. Since I have Mega Pack they can't charge me for Service or Home Visit. Even though the charges have been waived off, it still has left a bad after taste. Now that Ganzkart has mentioned it, I think this might be a regular scam by the DTH companies to earn something on the side. I'm seriously looking at changing DTH operators but all of them indulge in unfair trade practices like this.

We can only progress if we safeguard the rights of the consumer. India might be a huge lucrative market for companies but we need strict regulators who keep these errant companies on a tight leash. Also these companies should also properly train their lower level and customer interfacing staff to properly interact with consumers and not cheat them.

The TS website shows that the cost of TS HD recorder+transfer is 9300/-. No plain HD recorder is available with TS.

On the other hand, the Dish site shows that their cost of plain HD recorder is approx 1700/- only.

Why this huge difference?

Or, Am I missing something.

I request guidance please.

P.S - Pardon my ignorance in these matters please.

Quote:

Originally Posted by mercedised

Thanks a lot guys. I have booked Dish TV Tru HD+. The primary reason being it had cheapest of SD+HD package of 460 Rs with 40 HD channels. I have a HD quality bug, lets see if they have good service quality.

Mods: Apologies for the back to back posts.

Hello mercedised,

Can you please give us your total cost breakup, and also details of the cost of the STB and antenna.

On their website they are offering HD packs for 145.00/195.00/225.00 besides SD pack cost.

Which plan did you opt for?

Last edited by Zappo : 22nd February 2016 at 15:26.
Reason: Back to back posts merged